Shortz: My Top Ten Modern Movie Scenes
- Charles Raymo
- Jan 27, 2022
- 9 min read
Updated: Jan 28, 2022
While watching 'Dune' the other day with my wife, we got to talking about great movie scenes, and this of course lead to me think about how this would make a great Shortz!
There's something truly special about seeing a perfect movie scene, something that makes your adrenaline pump, your eyes water, your whole body tense up, and today we're going to celebrate that. However, I feel like discussions of great movie scenes sometimes tend to focus on (well deserved) classics, so today we'll be doing something a little different by discussing my top ten favorite modern movie scenes, and giving some love to more recent classics.
Without further ado, let's talk about some cool shit in no particular order (because I don't like putting the pressure on myself to actually name something as my favorite movie scene.)
10) Dune - The Spice Crawler:
This is the scene that kickstarted this entire list, because it rocks so very hard. We start with a slow build; our heroes, on a routine visit to check out the quality of their spice mining operation, spot one of the deadly sandworms in the distance, and things quickly go downhill from there as the massive crawler is unable to be airlifted away from the monstrous threat. What follows is a scene full of great character moments and thrilling action, conveying so much without explicitly spelling it out to the audience. We see that Duke Leto is brave and heroic, that he cares about his people. We see that Paul is clever and good at thinking on his feet, and we also see how dangerous this new planet will be for our heroes, as the sandworm's entrance plays like the end of the damn world. Combined with some pulse-pounding action, Hans Zimmer's thundering score, a little bit of fun worldbuilding, and one of the best CGI money-shots to date, this scene is an easy pick for the top 10.
9) Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse - The Leap of Faith:
Another example of something that I'd consider to be a perfect scene; this moment is built up to throughout the entire film; we've seen Miles struggle with his powers, we've seen how apprehensive he is to take on the role of Spiderman and we've seen the consequences of him trying to run away from this responsibility. He's finally come to terms with what he has to do, and with the confidence given to him by hearing his mentor's tell him they believe in him, he climbs to the tallest point in the city to perform his leap of faith like a trial by fire. When the music eases back and he jumps from the side of the skyscraper, your jaw hits the floor. You're swept up in the triumph of seeing Miles finally, confidently step into the shoes of Spiderman and every second of him running, jumping, and swinging through the city just gets better and better as the music continues to swell, until we're finally allowed to catch our breath with Miles at the end. Truly spectacular. If there was an Oscar for "Best Movie Scene", this would have won hands down.
8) The Matrix - Agent Smith's Interrogation:
This is probably my favorite villainous scene of all time. We begin with a pretty standard interrogation of Morpheus from the agents of the Matrix, all cold calculation, monotone voices, and general derision of humanity, but then, something changes. Agent Smith excuses the other two agents so that he and Morpheus can talk one on one, and his façade drops. Now we see a being who is sentient, who is painfully aware of why he exists, and who hates every moment of it. He's trapped in the Matrix just as much as any of the humans. This break in the man that we've known for the entire movie up to this point as a cold, unfeeling machine is a masterstroke of character writing that made Smith one of the most enduring and well-realized movie villains of all time, and the fact that Hugo Weaving is selling the absolute hell out of it sure helps.
7) Inglorious Basterds - The Opening Scene:
Speaking of great villainous scenes, we can't ignore one of the all-timers; Hans Landa's introduction. Christoph Waltz delivers such subtle, and eventually unsubtle, menace throughout this entire scene, and plays so well off of Denis Menochet, that you don't notice, until the music starts playing towards the end, that the entire scene up to this point has been just the two talking. It's the kind of scene that grips you so tightly, that you don't even realize until afterwards just how enthralled you were. Tarantino's dialogue shines here, with both actors delivering it to riveting effect; from Landa's friendly façade giving way to menace and, eventually, violence, to Lapadite's quiet reserve and growing fear as his family is threatened, which eventually becomes tearful, resigned betrayal of his friends. What truly underlines Landa's evil character is the casual, almost playful tone with which he yells after Shoshanna when watching her escape, following the brutal murder of her entire family. A heart-pounding, jaw-clenching, gut-wrenching scene that plays to phenomenal effect. The entire scene is twenty minutes long, but feels like it goes by in a heartbeat.
6) Knives Out - Questioning the Family:
Knives Out by Rian Johnson has quickly become one of my favorite movies, and is chock full of excellent scenes. If I had to pick a favorite though, it would be the scene of the family being interviewed. A clever, if unoriginal at first glance, way to get us caught up on the story, the opening involves a police interrogation following the death of the Harlan family patriarch. What sets the scene apart is, for starters, the actors, all of whom are hamming it up perfectly in their respective tropes. The scene uses the characters to do more than just tell us who's who; it uses this scene to set the stage for the entire plot. We learn what everyone thinks of everyone else, not just through Rian Johnson's razor sharp dialogue, but through implication and body language. We learn who's suspicious, who has motivation, and, most importantly for the movies social commentary, we learn that all of these people are terrible (even the "nice" ones). The bit that REALLY sells it though, is Daniel Craig's Benoit Blanc, who sits silently in the background, tapping a piano key whenever a character says something he deems important (often done after someone says something most would see as inconsequential), with all of these random, seemingly unrelated things coming together in the end to help him solve the family's mysteries, a fun nod to the fact that Blanc always seems to know more than he's letting on. A ton of fun, and a scene that sets the movie's tone perfectly.
Unfortunately there is no clip I can find for this entire scene but, hey, just go watch Knives Out, it's so effing good.
5) Drive - The Opening Chase:
I know, I know, any fan of Drive is gonna tell me this should be the elevator scene, but hear me out.
I remember going to see Drive in theaters, thinking I was in for a 'Fast and Furious' style action movie, only for the opening scene to be an intense, slow burn heist sequence. There's just so much about this scene that I love; The Driver's quiet professionalism, the way the long stretches of quiet moments make the short bursts of action that much more impactful, the fact that the camera almost never leaves the car, the way you question why the Driver would pull into a crowded stadium to escape a police chase, only to see him reverse his jacket and walk into a crowd as though he'd been there the whole time. This scene tells us everything we need to know about the Driver in a few short moments; he's calm, cool, collected, and very good at what he does, and it sets the stage for him to lose his calm demeanor later on in the film. It's just excellent. Drive is the movie that really made me start thinking about films in new ways, and this opening is what sold me on it.
4) The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - The Battle of Pelennor Fields:
I feel like I don't even have to explain this one. This is quite possibly the single most epic medieval movie scene of all time, and I don't mean epic in the connotative, internet way, I mean EPIC. Having arrived at the battle only to see Minas Tirith burning and surrounded by hundreds of thousands of Orcs, Theoden calls on his men to "fear no darkness", and rush headfirst at what, to them, must look like the end of the world. What could have been a moment of desperation and despair quickly becomes one of cinemas most heroic (and certainly most visually impressive) cavalry charges, as 6000 horsemen, hilariously outnumbered, muster their courage and cut through the Orc army like a warm knife through butter. It's really something to see. A rousing speech, some killer VFX (along with 250 horse riders for some grounded shots), the perfect build-up, and Howard Shore's triumphant score all culminate in one of the coolest battles ever put to film.
3) Star War: The Last Jedi - Yoda Speaks to Luke:
Oh yeah, in case you were curious, I'm not being facetious when I say that The Last Jedi is one of the best Star Wars films, and this scene is a big part of why. At everyone's lowest point, with Luke having become so disillusioned with the Jedi that he's prepared to burn the sacred texts and call it quits, Yoda arrives in classic, puppet form to tell him to get his shit together. This isn't Yoda from the prequels, who was basically the antithesis of everything he stood for in the original trilogy; this is good ol' fashion Jedi Master Yoda, spittin' some serious wisdom about how failure is the greatest teacher, and how it's a Jedi Master's burden to teach his students to be better than him, to learn from his failures. "We are what they grow beyond" is probably one of the best lines in the franchise, and it really doesn't get enough credit. He doesn't overstay his welcome either; he shows up, goofs around a bit in classic Yoda fashion, drops some wisdom on Luke, and that's it. A perfect little cameo, and a great reminder that this movie understood what the original trilogy was all about much better than...pretty much every Star Wars movie outside of the original trilogy. Not following the arcs of this movie was and is a terrible tragedy for Star Wars as a franchise. And yes, I am 1000% going to die on that hill.
2) Mad Max: Fury Road - Escaping Immortan Joe:
For starters, if you haven't seen Mad Max: Fury Road, please do. When I first saw this movie I described it as a death metal fever dream, which I still think is the most apt description I can give to it, and in few scenes is this better exemplified than the opening car chase. Having freed the wives of Immortan Joe and stolen his largest war rig, Charlize Theron's Furiosa must contend with Joe's own army and a cadre of killer cars, launching into an all out road war full of gorgeous practical effects and more mayhem than you can shake a stick at, all of which ends with a breathtaking escape into an apocalyptic sandstorm. The entire scene is ludicrously over the top in the best way, and written descriptions wouldn't do it proper justice. You just have to see it.
1) La La Land - The Planetarium:
Let's wrap this list up with a scene that I love for a very simple reason; It's really cute. That's it, that's everything I love about it. It's a fun, cute little moment between two people falling in love. I could have given this movie a spot for it's gut-punch ending, or for the lively, visually gorgeous first dance number between our two leads, but something about the magical, otherworldly nature of this scene is just perfect. I had the biggest smile on my face for it's entire duration. Nothing deep, no profound thoughts, just a nice, romantic, happy scene.
Honorable Mentions (AKA More awesome scenes you should look up but this list is already too damn long):
- The Dark Knight - Joker Interrogation
A brilliantly acted scene by both leads, both verbally and physically charged.
- La La Land - A Lovely Night
Pretty, a ton of fun.
- Blade Runner 2049 - Sea Wall/Saving Deckard
Tense as hell with a pulsing soundtrack.
- Drive - The Elevator Scene (There ya go)
I mean, c'mon.
- Baby Driver - The Opening Chase
Flawless editing and creative choreography help this opening scene shine.
- Dune - Gom Jabbar
Ridiculously tense moment that ends with epic triumph.
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Aragon vs. The Uruk-Hai
I think people underestimate how great it is to see heroes be heroic in films.
- Sicaro - The Border Scene
Yet another scene of jaw-clenching tension that's a big part of our heroines arc.
- Whiplash - The Final Performance
Contains quite possibly some of my favorite final seconds of any film.
- La La Land - What Could Have Been
I cried, my wife cried, the whole theater cried.
- Spiderman 2 - The Train Sequence
Superhero movies have yet to top this.
- Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Luke vs. Kylo Ren
"A Jedi uses the force for knowledge and defense, never for attack" - Yoda
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